1659 – Richard Cromwell resigns as Lord Protector of England following the restoration of the Long Parliament, beginning a second brief period of the republican government called the Commonwealth of England.

1738 – A treaty between Pennsylvania and Maryland ends the Conojocular War with settlement of a boundary dispute and exchange of prisoners.

1787 – In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, delegates convene a Constitutional Convention to write a new Constitution for the United States; George Washington presides.

1809 – Chuquisaca Revolution: a group of patriots in Chuquisaca (modern day Sucre) revolt against the Spanish Empire, starting the South American Wars of Independence.

1810 – May Revolution: citizens of Buenos Aires expel Viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros during the May week, starting the Argentine War of Independence.

1837 – The Patriots of Lower Canada (Quebec) rebel against the British for freedom.

1953 – Nuclear testing: At the Nevada Test Site, the United States conduct their first and only nuclear artillery test.

1953 – The first public television station in the United States officially begins broadcasting as KUHT from the campus of the University of Houston.

1961 – Apollo program: U.S. President John F. Kennedy announces before a special joint session of the Congress his goal to initiate a project to put a "man on the Moon" before the end of the decade.

1963 – In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Organisation of African Unity is established.

1979 – Six-year-old Etan Patz disappears from the street just two blocks away from his New York home, prompting an International search for the child, and causing President Ronald Reagan to designate May 25th as National Missing Children's Day (in 1983).

1982 – HMS Coventry is sunk during the Falklands War.

2000 – Liberation Day of Lebanon. Israel withdraws its army from most of the Lebanese territory after 22 years of its first invasion in 1978.

2009 – North Korea allegedly tests its second nuclear device. Following the nuclear test, Pyongyang also conducted several missile tests building tensions in the international community.

Births

1048 – Emperor Shenzong of Song China (d. 1085)

1334 – Emperor Sukō, Japanese Pretender (d. 1398)

1458 – Mahmud Begada, Sultan of Gujarat (d. 1511)

1606 – Charles Garnier, French Jesuit missionary (d. 1649)

1713 – John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1792)